I have pinging in my Mazda. The sound is not unlike a diesel engine, though not even close to as loud.

I read your article on Improper Combustion Process. I have taken my car to the Dealer and they said this was normal for high performance engines. I only have 44k miles. The pinging was just noticeable in 5th gear. Now it's getting louder and more noticeable in all gears when accelerating and when low RPM for the individual gears while moderate acceleration, like going up a small hill.

1. I have put in premium gas in my car to see if that would help. It did not.
2. I have taken off the air filter on the car and run it to see if it would help. It did not.
3. I have put in a fuel injection cleaner. It did not help.
4. I was going to remove my plugs and check them for gunk or corrosion, but I could not get them out of the small hole they are in. I need a special thinner tool than my sockets.

I can't believe this is normal for cars. I would not buy a used one doing this.

* The dealer said I can take it to a 'hack'/performance guy and they could modify the computer to burn differently, but it would void the extended warranty I have.
* He also said I can try running gas without ethanol in it. Is not my running 92 Octane in it basically the same?
* I read that using a slightly higher viscosity Oil might help. Any suggestions on that?
* Is there anything else I can do with reference to your Improper Combustion Process article that might help, like running a hotter spark plug?

Is there anything I can do or go back to the dealer with to help get rid of the pinging. It's annoying, though not very loud. I don't want the engine to be further ruined if I can.

Im not sure
I will check. Do you think it would be EGR valve or hot spot on a cylinder.....
Also, it seemed mixed when I was scouring Google, but some say it is very very bad for your car and others say not a big deal if not loud. It's just starting to last longer and longer. And, of course, when the dealer had it yesterday it hardly made a sound. The tech said it's because it was very humid and that makes it lessen the sound.....